They take up space, form disorderly queues, smell bad and often carry only one person: cars. Many alternatives are available, especially in large cities like  Berlin, Germany — from (e-)bikes to car-sharing and regular public transport. The main reason people still opt to drive seems to be the (perceived) convenience of personal cars, but this individual choice leads to stress, poor air quality, increased CO₂ emissions and decreased city liveability.

 

From Jakarta to Berlin

‘Jelbi’ is a service that will soon be launched by Berlin’s public transportation agency, the BVG. It merges mobility options such as public transport, shared vehicles and on-demand services in one app, allowing for seamless travel across the city and easy payment. Trafi, the Lithuanian start-up that provides the white label technology, has a proven track record in cities such as Jakarta, where car use significantly dropped and bus transport rose by 20% after it introduced a similar application. The Berlin collaboration will mark the first time that a European city of this size provides a deeply integrated mobility network, with more than 25 different public and private transportation partners combined in one platform.

 

Dynamic pricing and better planning

The collaboration shows how competitors can team up across entire city mobility ecosystems, to together provide the best user service and decrease environmental impacts. In the future, Jelbi could introduce dynamic pricing — e.g. paying a lower fee for commuting outside of rush hours. And the data it collects can help city planners to spot mobility patterns and even use these to help prevent traffic jams or introduce new bike lanes.